Lifestyle

Military spouses make working their mission

When Beth Hicks strolled into Bank of America in Charlotte, NC to open a military savings account 12 years ago, she had no idea she was going to be recruited on the spot.

Hicks recalls an innocent conversation with the manager about her leadership skills, which morphed into the manager encouraging her to apply for opportunities. So she did — and one month later began her new job as a market performance manager.

Now a vice president and branch manager — she’s married to an Army sergeant major — Hicks maintained employment with the bank despite her family’s military moves every two to three years.

“My jobs haven’t been portable,” says the spouse, who was previously a banking center manager in Texas and a market growth leader in California. “But I’ve been able to find ways to use my skills in each new location.”

Moving isn’t uncommon for military families: According to a 2013 White House report, military spouses are 10 times as likely as civilian spouses to move at any given time. The result of all that house-
hopping?

An unemployment rate of 30 percent for 18- to 24-year-old military spouses. And if they’re not unemployed, they’re likely, at the very least, underemployed: A 2013 survey by the Military Officers Association of America reports 90 percent of military spouses said they don’t have enough work.

It’s easy to understand, then, why spousal employment is a major issue among military families — it ranks third among major concerns, right behind military pay/benefits and changes to retirement benefits, according to the same study.

Despite moving every two to three years due to her husband’s Army position, Beth Hicks has managed to maintain her job at Bank of America.Beth Hicks

More and more corporations, however, like Bank of America, are opening their eyes to this issue and beefing up their efforts to recruit and hire spouses of those who serve in the armed forces — and to assist people like Hicks in seeking work when they inevitably end up relocating.

“I’ve known plenty of others who’ve hidden the fact that they have a spouse in the military, thinking it would hurt their job prospects or advancement opportunities,” says Hicks of her own hiring tale. “But that’s a part of what made me attractive to Bank of America.”

Attractive, indeed. Lewis Runnion, senior vice president and director of military affairs at Bank of America, explains this population of spouses of people who serve in the military uniquely relate to military customers.

“The business case for hiring and retaining military spouses is simple: They bring the skills, qualities and values that help our company become better.”

To support transient lifestyles and invest in their careers, the bank created a personalized Job Transition Assistance Program in late 2012 for military spouses to identify internal jobs.

“All military spouses are assigned a single point of contact, who helps them identify and apply for roles that match their desired work location, skill set and interests,” says Runnion. They work on every possibility to place a transitioning spouse (although placement is not guaranteed).

Hiring Manager at AT&T Rachel BookTamara Beckwith

Rachel Book, associate director of global talent attraction and diversity at AT&T says military spouse recruiting is “the next frontier,” because corporations are realizing this untapped resource demonstrates flexibility, tenacity and resiliency.

“They’ve handled major life events while their spouses were deployed,” she says. “They roll with the punches.”

Book adds they’re “natural networkers” by being able to assimilate quickly into new communities every few years. And with nearly 25,000 AT&T employees in telecommuting arrangements, work can be done anywhere — ideal for military spouses on the move. (Although employees aren’t guaranteed an internal job when they move, the company makes every effort to help them.)

Patricia Lopez, an AT&T retail store manager in Palo Alto, Calif., was hired seven years ago and has managed to remain with the company throughout her Navy husband’s moves — first in Salt Lake City, now in Northern California and at the end of the summer in Phoenix. Like any job, the work does not come without challenges — such as trying to get promoted: “As military spouses, we build our reputation in a new place and before we know it, it’s time to move again,” Lopez explains.

There can be personal branding and identity issues, too. “Military spouses tell me they feel a loss of self-identity because much of our society’s focus centers around the military member’s career,” explains Lida Citroën, author of “Your Next Mission.”

But spouses on the move without a job on the horizon now have new online tools to assist in these issues as well as their job search. AT&T launched a Web site in late 2013 for military spouses that features the ability to search for jobs near their base. There’s also the opportunity for video chats to connect with a recruiter.

Having that support network is something people like Lopez are grateful for.

“I love that I can move from state to state,” she says, “and still be able to feel like I’m part of the community.”